Man and Woman He Created Them: The Theology of the Body - 129 general audience addresses on the topics of life, love, sexuality, and marriage, delivered by the Great Pope John Paul II between 1979 and 1984. It is a look into the very core of the human being. In a culture where the human body and the human person is thought of as little more than a means to an end, the late pope dared to stand up and declare that we deserve better.

22 November 2007

What I'm thankful for...

The Sexual Revolution blindsided the Western World in the 1960's and early 1970's. The Puritanism and repression of the past would no longer be tolerated. The change was probably inevitable, and with good intention. The consequences were not foreseen by most however.

Today we live in an over-sexualized world. I can no longer watch a football game with my Dad without being bombarded by commercials advertising pills for erectile dysfunction. I can't check my email without stumbling across a few e-solicitations to chat with the "one I've been longing for". I cannot browse the magazine rack of a bookstore without being drawn to covers of half-naked women in men's magazines, pointing to the more "in your face" pornography displayed just above it.

Everything is sex without consequences. But the truth is now out there and I am thankful for it.

I'm thankful that in 1968, Pope Paul VI penned his encyclical Humanae Vitae, defending human life and upholding the Catholic teaching against the use of contraception. Despite all other Christian churches changing their stance, the Pope knew that contraception would have a radical effect on the world. To separate the sexual experience from procreation was to undo the order of God.

I'm thankful that Pope John Paul II delivered a series of lectures from 1979 to 1984, cumulatively titled the Theology of the Body, which put together 2000 years of Church teaching, Holy Tradition, and perhaps the best biblical scholarship in the history of the Good Book - all on the true meaning of the human body as intended by God. The human body is good so Good that it should not be repressed, but must not be exploited. It is the antidote to the sexual revolution. And what could have been our graduation from puritanism.

I'm thankful that today, many bishops, priests, religious, and lay faithful have caught on. We aren't many, but we are growing. There is an army of believers, who will not cease fighting the lies of the culture. We are ready for a new change. We are ready to overturn the culture of death. And we will not stop until abortion, rape, sexual abuse, pornography, and all other sins of the flesh are wiped clean from this world.

Most of all, I'm thankful for a Merciful Lord. Jesus has met us where we are at. He has given us exactly what we need in the Church's teaching on love and responsibility. The power is in our hands (folded hands that is).